The SYNDICATE Subsessions continues to push the boundaries and for this installment it presents the lush sonic offerings by Pleasantry, Fauxe and Weish. For the first time ever, the Subsessions stage plays host to a collaborative set where Singapore’s current indie darlings, Pleasantry, shares the spotlight with emerging electronic producer, Fauxe.

Meanwhile, Weish will also helm the stage with her one-woman live-looping performance.

Formed in late 2010, Pleasantry crafts and carves music out of each member’s disparate listening background. The end result is a plush and infectious bunch of songs coupled with live performances of great musicality.

These traits that defined Pleasantry will be set against the textural electronic approach of Fauxe and vice versa. Upon listening to the Fauxe remix of a Pleasantry track, “Window Gazer”, the fit seems perfect for the collaboration to take place live on a proper stage.

Weish is a voice of displacement, suspended between talk and silence, comedy and despair, guilt and ignorance, momentum and ennui, originality and cliché. Armed with her looper pedal and a treasury of cherished collaborations, Weish has grown significantly in writing and performance over the past year.

The two performances will be accompanied with live visuals from guest visual artist, Jun, who had previously collaborated with the likes of Monster Cat and The B Quartet.

Event Details

SYNDICATE & The Substation Presents:
SYNDICATE Subsessions ft Pleasantry x Fauxe and Weish
Visuals by Jun

1 June 2013, Saturday
8PM – 10PM
The Substation Theatre, 45 Armenian Street
$20 – tickets available from the Substation Box Office
6337 7800 / boxoffice@substation.org

This sixth offering from the SYNDICATE imprint, BRIGHT//SHINE, marks the long awaited release by Singaporean producer, Max Lane. The four-track EP compiles the ever-experimenting beatmaker’s adventure into the sonic realm of head-nodding rhythms. From start to end, Max Lane manages to present his own blend of clunky yet intricate beats with pulsating basslines and modulating synth melodies.

Picking up from where he left off from his self-released The Mim Project EP (2009), Max Lane extends his homage to the late Javanese literary great, Pramoedya Ananta Toer. An audio reading excerpt from Pramoedya’s This Earth of Mankind is featured in the opening track, ‘Don’t Ask My Name”. This nod to the realm of Southeast Asian literature can be found again in the ‘Voodoo Martyr’ where you will find the processed & chopped-up voice of Singapore’s left-field icon, X’Ho, reading out Alfian Saat’s “Singapore You’re Not My Country”.

Definitely a release that is craft out with many layers, you have to listen to BRIGHT//SHINE over and over again to peel them off one at a time.

Check out Max Lane – BRIGHT//SHINE in the SYNDICATE Bandcamp store.

The SYNDICATE Subsessions kicks off its second year with two special performances from artists within the SYNDICATE stable itself; Kiat and Vandetta. Often seen collaborating together on stages all over the world, the two artists will stand on their own for a night of live beats and bass.

One half of Octover and known to many as Vanessa Fernandez, Vandetta is an experimental outlet for this multi-talented songstress to explore the electronic realm on her own. Other than doing what she does best with her sultry voice, this new adventure places Vandetta in a position where she is in full control of her musical expression.

For her performance you can expect some live-looping, vocal-processing and button-pushing actions in this one-woman show where she will be playing tracks from her upcoming release.

A name that needs no introduction and one of Southeast Asiaʼs pioneers of left field electronica, Kiat is finally ready to take on the Subsessions stage. More known for his club sets, this showcase will definitely unveil a different side of Kiat.

Inclining towards the style and sounds of his full-length album, The Inner Galaxy, Kiat has put together a stellar list of supporting musicians, aptly named The Inner Galaxies, to present this cosmic voyage on stage. Consisting of Jason Tan from Octover, acclaimed artist Andy Yang and multi-instrumentalist Isaac Aesili, Kiat & The Inner Galaxies is set to take you to another dimension.

Presenting the visual journeys for both performances will be SYNDICATE resident visualist, Brandon Tay.

Event Details

SYNDICATE & The Substation Presents:
SYNDICATE Subsessions ft Kiat & Vandetta
Visuals by Brandon Tay

30 March 2013, Saturday
8PM – 10PM
The Substation Theatre, 45 Armenian Street
$20 – tickets available from the Substation Box Office
6337 7800 / boxoffice@substation.org

Come 2 February, we celebrate our third anniversary at Home Club with a long list of local luminaries to grace its stage. The night will witness a grand get together of all the major collectives, nights and labels that have been active in the burgeoning Singapore scene.

Eight acts have been lined-up for this celebration to cover the main sounds and fly their crew flags high with their own audio aesthetics and party vibes. From the uplifting vibrations of the boys from Good Vibes and Pushin’On to the clinical approach of TRU:SPIRIT and Midnight Shift and the more experimental nods of Darker Than Wax and Phyla Digital; it will be one memorable jamboree.

Maintaining this communal affair, the Beat Invitational showcase takes a twist where the local labels are invited to present their latest selections of unreleased tracks and rarities.

Event Details

Home Presents:
SYNDICATE, The Third Anniversary

Gema
Syafii
Fauxe
DJ Chunk
Zeratone
Funk Bast*rd
Norman C
Gerald Ang

+ The Label Invitational
Darker Than Wax
Phyla Digital
Order Records
SYNDICATE

Visuals by Brandon Tay

2 Feb 2013, Saturday
10PM – 4AM
Home Club
20 Upp Circular Road, The Riverwalk, Singapore
Admission: $15 (with 1 drink)

For its fifth offering, SYNDICATE unleashes the highly anticipated debut release from electronic duo, Octover. The self-titled seven-track EP brings the best out of both producer (Jason Tan) and vocalist (Vanessa Fernandez) as they create their own aural palette to present a slick modern blend of R&B, soul and jazz.

Fernandez’s sultry vocals sit strongly, all sensual and poised, across the entire release yet provide the perfect space for Tan to work his magic covering a wide range of the sonic spectrum. In the opening number, “Satisfy”, Tan nods and winks to the ’90s, fusing smooth R&B groove of that decade with crispy glitches reminiscent of early Autechre.

This subtle genre referencing and musical homage can be found in all the songs featured. A salutation to soul can definitely be felt on the aptly sparse “Empty” and of course on their rendition of “This Woman’s Work”. Meanwhile “Time” and “Hurt” seem to pay respect to jazz as electronics take a back seat for more organic instrumentations to take over.

Refreshing and compelling, this Octover release marks the rebirth of slick.

Check out Octover’s self-titled release in the SYNDICATE Bandcamp store.

In the holy spirit of giving and festivities, the SYNDICATE team embarked upon the Amen Project. The assignment was simple – everyone had only a week to submit a track by sampling the infamous Amen Break.

What lies upon the click(s) are the end results; a set of offerings, from us to you. Thank you for making 2012 another amazing year for the SYNDICATE family and we hope to offer you more in 2013. Amen.

Check out The Amen Project in the SYNDICATE Bandcamp store.

SYNDICATE Subsessions wraps up its first year with two live performances from Izaak Stern and Rafi Dean. After taking a mini hiatus, both producers will mark their return to the stage with brand new materials for this special SYNDICATE residents double bill.

Known more for his visual and technical production contributions to the SYNDICATE team, Rafi Dean makes a return to the studio. He has been cultivating an amalgamation of sounds from the roots of ambient-electronica, experiments in feedback loops and accidental glitches.

Moving away from the beat oriented “live” performance, this presentation at SYNDICATE Subsessions will showcase the left field aural landscapes from his upcoming EP, paired with visual triggers to delight the senses.

Meanwhile, Izaak Stern is also set to showcase his continuous journey across various musical tangents where, as slot machines online for real money he so oftenly claims, “nothing is prescribed and hardly anything is certain”. Despite being no stranger to the broad brushstrokes of electronic music, his approach is ever-changing and ever-evolving.

After releasing a debut EP on Qilin Music, a brief mention on the now defunct New York Post music blog, dabbling in club sets and countless hours experimenting in the studio, Izaak Stern is ready to bring a new live set-up and a catalog of new materials to the Subsessions stage.

Event Details

SYNDICATE & The Substation Presents:
SYNDICATE Subsessions ft Izaak Stern & Rafi Dean
Visuals by Kiat

8 December 2012, Saturday
8PM – 10PM
The Substation Theatre, 45 Armenian Street
$20 – tickets available from the Substation Box Office
6337 7800 / boxoffice@substation.org

A multimedia installation commissioned by The Republic Cultural Centre (Republic Polytechnic) for its Reflections Community Arts Festival, Purnama (Full Moon) explores the idea of placing nostalgia and futurism on the same plane.

A visualization of a song by Max Lane of the same name, the composition’s rustic sonic palette, made up of bits and pieces of traditional sounds from the Malay Archipelago, is juxtaposed with the ultramodern projection mapping visual content by Brandon Tay and the scientific approach of fluid dynamics-based motion graphics by Afiq Omar.

This audio-visual clash of the senses investigates on how the linear view of the past and the future can be disrupted.

Installation Details

23 October – 6 November 2012
8:30AM – 9PM
Republic Polytechnic South Agora
9 Woodlands Avenue 9
Free Admission

After much anticipation and the live preview at the March installation of the SYNDICATE Subsessions, Gema’s debut release is finally here.

Before is a 5-track EP which showcases the young producer’s love for polyrhythmic textures sprayed on warm synth melodies and his signature sub-bass lines that glide in and out of each track. Definitely a listening pleasure with your headphones on!

Check out Gema’s Before EP in the SYNDICATE Bandcamp store.

SYNDICATE is back to bring a young female beatmaker, Dot, from the Los Angeles-based Alpha Pup imprint to its stage.

Dot is Kate Ellwanger from Olympia, Washington, a 20-year-old classical composer, pianist and opera singer-turned-producer. Studies at Chapman University”s Conservatory of Music led her to the class of Dubspot beat guru Steve Nalepa, where she was introduced to electronic music composition and an internship at Alpha Pup Records. Dot quickly discovered Low online casino End Theory and the thriving Los Angeles beat community, which began to profoundly impact her production aesthetic.

Also making her SYNDICATE debut is RAH while the night’s residents, Darren Dubwise, Gema and Koflow will keep the program going with a special set by Kiat featuring Vandetta.

Another round of Beat Invitational is set to take place to unearth more musical nuggets and gems all freshly made in Singapore. At the visual controls will be Afiq Omar and Kiat.

Event Details

Home Presents:
SYNDICATE feat Dot (Alpha Pup, LA)

Kiat feat Vandetta
Koflow
Darren Dubwise
Gema
Rah
Visuals by Afiq Omar and Kiat

The Beat Invitational Showcase

6 Oct 2012, Saturday
10:30PM – 4AM
Home Club
20 Upp Circular Road, The Riverwalk, Singapore
Admission: $15 (with 1 drink)